As everyone knows, it's easy to kill, but hard to bury.
Zhang Ze looked at the corpses filling the hall, feeling rather troubled. He hadn't expected the battle to be so fierce.
In just a moment, apart from Zhang Ze, no one else was left standing.
The most miserable were naturally the cannon fodder cultivators who had only reached Foundation Establishment. Some couldn't even use their skills. As soon as the chaos began, they were struck by the aftermath of various spells and flying implements, dying from mysterious AOE attacks. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ novel[f]ire.net
Next were the Golden Core Stage cultivators from Ghost Horse Helm, who were mostly consumed by their own Ghost Horse Slaves.
What intrigued Zhang Ze was that Ling Jiao, who should have been the most reckless, was fighting cautiously.
Ling Jiao just clashed with his powerful physical body, keeping his aura and might restrained, battling the out-of-control, maddened elder in a deadlock.
Moreover, he guided the elder away from the hall walls and the barrier he had set, seemingly very afraid of anything going wrong in this place.
This rendered Zhang Ze's prepared Protective Magical Artifact useless.
As for how the person died in the end, it was quite unsightly. He was too concerned with various matters, ending up dying together with the elder, even having half of his butt bitten off.
"Bai Tao, do you have anything like Corpse-Dissolving Water?" Zhang Ze asked through his Golden Core.
"Uh, I don't have that, but I can mix something for you now." Bai Tao shook his head.
Just as Zhang Ze was about to get up to gather the corpses first, one of them moved. Then the person performed a kip-up and stood up, while his black robe cracked inch by inch, crumbling to powder. The robe seemed to be a Magical Artifact.
Though his breastbone was caved in half, it didn't look fatal.
Having stealthily survived to the end and using a Secret Technique to confirm that everyone here was dead, Xiao Han now felt bold. He looked at the corpses scattered around, unable to suppress his grin.
Now everyone was indeed dead, and this place was perfect for secluded cultivation.
Taking everything from the corpses would provide enough resources to cultivate to Nascent Soul.
With a twitching mouth, Xiao Han dragged his heavily injured body, scavenging the bodies.
Seeing someone doing the work for him, Zhang Ze squatted down again.
Xiao Han was rather experienced and fortunate. He stripped the clothes and Storage Rings from the bodies, then took out a jade bottle, releasing black liquid that instantly dissolved the corpses.
Even the bodies of those having reached Nascent Soul were no exception, turned to nothing by the black liquid.
When Xiao Han finished his cleaning, the hall was spotless, but the Magical Artifacts and Storage Rings collected lay scattered on the ground.
He planned to admire his spoils.
After the cleaning ended, Zhang Ze stood up, stretched, and came up behind Xiao Han.
Since his current disguise wasn't suitable to reveal himself, he summoned the Profound Identification Treasure Mirror.
However, before Zhang Ze could issue a command, the Profound Identification Treasure Mirror acted on its own.
The Profound Identification Treasure Mirror struck Xiao Han's back head with overwhelming force, instantly killing him with its sharp corner.
Zhang Ze, "...I didn't say go for it."
[The timing was too good, and this guy didn't seem like a good person. Couldn't resist. Besides, you summoned me for this, didn't you?]
Zhang Ze reflected and agreed; he indeed intended to act.
[By the way, why did the group chat disconnect?]
After explaining the reason for the disconnection to the Profound Identification, he temporarily placed it in the Beast Taming Ring.
The Profound Identification was now eager to communicate, and Bai Tao should have finished reading the manuscript, perfect for them to chat and entertain each other, preventing boredom.
Without revealing himself, Zhang Ze used the small bottle to dissolve Xiao Han's corpse and packed all the Magical Artifacts and Spirit Treasures in front of him.
These items were of little use to him, but they were uniquely shaped, so Zhang Ze planned to take them back for Li as snacks.
To Li, these should count as Jing State specialty snacks...
Once everything was tidied up, the array set by Ling Jiao dissipated, and Zhang Ze, still hidden, returned to the study.
He took another look around.
The books were surprisingly useful.
Ling Jiao didn't have a habit of keeping a diary, but he did have a strange obsession.
Half of the books on the shelf detailed a hundred-year plan for the future development of Ghost Horse Helm, thoroughly recorded and meticulously planned.
Zhang Ze reckoned Brother Feng could use them.
On a trip, everyone should receive vacation souvenirs.
Continuing to ransack, Zhang Ze again summoned the Profound Identification, smashed open a Treasure Chest, and destroyed the array within.
He also found a set of teaware, a few jade ornaments, and a delicate Glazed Unity Ball...
Counting on his fingers, after tallying old Tang and his master, this Treasure Chest alone nearly provided travel souvenirs for everyone.
After a thorough search and confirming nothing else of importance, Zhang Ze returned to the hall, standing at the spot where Ling Jiao had stood, looking back.
There in an inconspicuous place was an array, seemingly a mechanism.
After mixing with Lily and Tang for so long, Zhang Ze naturally recognized ordinary arrays. Retrieving the Jade Token he had taken from Ling Jiao, he directed it at the array.
The array activated, Spiritual Qi converged, the stone wall turned ethereal, revealing an abyss behind it.
It seemed something was in the abyss, but Zhang Ze's current cultivation level couldn't make it out clearly.
"Is that the Spirit Realm?"
Zhang Ze stood at the edge of the cliff, hurling a bunch of golden light downward, but before the abyss's depths were illuminated, Zhang Ze immediately turned and reached back.
It wasn't a discovery; rather, his intuition told him that the person who had kicked him just now must still be behind him.